


The Escape

by PaleRose



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: M/M, New Years Eve party, Panic Attacks, Pez being dRAMATIC, Post first kiss, henry's pov, mature for descriptions of ass, mentions of Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:33:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22781038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleRose/pseuds/PaleRose
Summary: The scene in which Henry escapes the NYE party and flees the country.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 11
Kudos: 190





	The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I'm obsessed with this novel bye.

Henry is screwed. 

No, he’s more than screwed, he’s fucked. He’s absolutely, undeniably, ass up and opened fucked. As he pushes through the crowd that doesn’t even seem to notice or mind his hysterical shoving, he frantically searches for Pez. He needs to get as far away from this party as humanly possible before Alex comes to his senses. If he leaves now, then the rejection can’t actually be real. Alex hasn’t said anything at all, so he can’t be hurt. 

The pounding music fades in Henry’s ears, becoming a dull hum that reminds him of being underwater, and he feels his chest grow impossibly tight with every failed attempt at locating Pez. Everyone looks the bloody same underneath the flashing pink and blue lights, bathing everything in a purple haze. He never should have entertained the idea his romantic of a sister planted in his head that Alex might actually want him back. He never should have drank so much champagne that he let it become his courage and cloud his judgement. And above all, he never should have kissed Alex out in the open underneath the lone linden tree, barely protected by the shroud of night from prying eyes and shuttering cameras. The consequences of doing something so reckless have been drilled into his head by his Grandmother for as long as he can remember. 

_ “It’s not a lie if you do not act upon it.” _

But those fucking eyelashes, that doe-eyed stare that Alex gave him when he made his situation abundantly clear, and the way his mouth, lips full and red from the cold, hung open in confusion drove Henry to be rash and finally take matters into his own hands. 

Furthermore, there is no way Alex would ever return his feelings sober. For every ounce of relief he felt for finally shutting up that stupid mouth of the most infuriating and intoxicating individual he knows, the all-consuming dread for what comes next that he’s experiencing now eclipses any sliver of hope Henry has. The crowd around him continues to dance as he sinks to his knees, shaking, his lungs refusing to fill with air. Just when his vision begins to blur and fuzz at the corners, a hand clutches his jacket and he’s yanked off the floor. 

“What are you doing, you git!?” Pez shouts over the music. “You could get hurt!” Henry blinks dumbly at his friend. He knows what Pez just said, but all the words he wants to say refuse to come out.

_ How ironic,  _ Henry thinks to himself bitterly. 

“Are you okay, man? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!” Pez’s brow furrows in concern as he ushers Henry off of the dance floor and down an uncrowded hall with Shaan trailing close behind. 

“Henry! Speak to me!” Pez says as he shakes him violently. Shaan places a hand in the center of Henry’s back, urging Pez to stop so the Prince can calm down. 

“Breathe, your highness,” Shaan says as Henry’s breathing slows and he begins to relax. He’s shaking now, staring at the ground and feeling colder despite being indoors and having been among the sea of bodies that crowded the dance floor. 

“Leave,” Henry says as he exhales shakily. 

“I beg your pardon, your highness?” 

“I need to leave now!” Henry’s voice raises and he turns his head to Shaan. He can feel tears starting to gather in the corner of his eyes;he can’t stand the thought of any further embarrassment. 

Shaan nods and gives a quick “Yes, your highness,” before quickly accompanying him and Pez out of the building to his private car. Before Henry’s mind can even process anything other than the methodic 10 count pattern his therapist taught him to use whenever he has a panic attack, he’s being escorted onto his private jet and soaring over the Atlantic. Far away from the most egregious decision he’s ever made. 

“What happened, man?” Pez asks as he sits beside Henry after about an hour into their flight. Henry always appreciates Pez’s willingness to give him space when he has an episode. Always patient and never pushy to the point of prying.

“You gave your Auntie Pez the fright of her life, you did! Gasping for air and looking at me like your eyes were about to melt from your eye sockets!” He drapes a perfectly manicured hand over his forehead and drops his body weight against Henry’s shoulder. 

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Henry shakes his head, staring out the window into the darkness. 

“You’re calling me dramatic when you practically hollered at Shaan to remove you from the biggest party of the year! Spill the tea, Henry, what happened!?”

There’s a beat of silence, then Henry sighs. “I kissed him.” 

Pez shoots up from his reclined position, eyes wide like a child being told the most amazing secret. “I’m sorry, what? Did you just say what I think you just said?” 

Henry nods, his ears going pink.

“Holy shit Henry!!! You hedonistic homosexual harlot!!!!!” Pez’s alliteration reverberates to all corners of the jet and makes Henry sink deep into his seat with a groan, covering his face with his clammy hands. 

“Spill the tea, sis!” Pez swats Henry’s shoulder with the small pillow that was in his seat. “What was it like!? Are those DSL’s as soft as you imagined them to be? Did he use his tongue? I bet he used tongue, all Americans use tongue. Did you grab his thick arse? Did you-”

“That’s quite enough, Pez.” Shaan’s voice cuts Pez off and halts his barrage of hits and pokes to Henry’s arm. 

“C’mon man, you need to tell me. I’m your best friend,” Pez pleads, hushing his tone and blinking his eyes puppy dog style with a quivering lip.

Henry slides his hands down his face, pulling at his cheeks and not caring if it goes against his skincare routine. “Nothing really happened. I kissed him. I freaked out. I ran away. The look on his face when I pulled away was so-” 

“Lovestruck?” Pez interjects. 

Henry shakes his head, “Shocked. Like I’d done something so unexpected.” 

“Well, Henry, darling, he isn’t the most observant.” Pez snorts. 

“But it felt different this time. I dunno why, but...” Henry thinks about how Alex’s mouth fell open as he deepened the kiss. How as soon as Henry tasted whisky on Alex’s tongue, he shoved him away, knowing Alex’s willingness to melt into him was a byproduct of drunken stupor. It can’t possibly be real. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, love.” Pez pats him on the head affectionately. “You made the first move, now all you can do is wait for his response.” Pez is right, but Henry can’t stand to think about how Alex is reacting to this whole thing. How he can’t even know until after he lands. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi new fandom! i high key wanna write more scenes from henry's POV but they're probs gonna be off screen stuff because i don't wanna fuck with casey's dialogue ffff. 
> 
> anyway, don't forget to leave a comment if ya liked it~ 
> 
> [[TWITTER]](https://twitter.com/palerosetweets)


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